


The Summer That Never Ends

by CrazyEd



Series: The Summer That Ended [2]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate History, Drabble Collection, F/F, F/M, Multi, No Robert's Rebellion, Polyamory, Rhaegar Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 14:07:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11853180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyEd/pseuds/CrazyEd
Summary: A collection of drabbles in which Ashara Dayne is crowned the Queen of Love and Beauty at the Tourney at Harrenhal, the War of the Usurper doesn't happen, Rhaegar becomes king, and as many people get fluffy slice-of-life endings as possible.





	1. The Second Tourney at Harrenhal

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've ever written what I'd consider fanfiction, let alone posted it to the internet. It might not be anything special, but I hope it's at least somewhat enjoyable. I'd love to hear any thoughts or comments that you might have reading it, but regardless, thank you for giving it your time in the first place. Because of the author's notes, this work is best read in chaptered view.
> 
> You could kind of think of this as a one-shot version of the series it is a part of. Many things have changed in the expansion to an actual series of actual stories, but many things remain the same. Rather than keep tweaking this every time I render something invalid in the series, I'm just going to let this stand as is, and let it serve as a rough guide to where I was going.

It was a grand day at Harrenhal. In honour of King Rhaegar's twentieth year of rule, a tournament was held in the same place it began; and to join in the celebration, the gods placed Princes Aegon and Arthur in the final tilt of the joust. Lances crashed against shields. Both lances shattered, but the brothers remained ahorse. A shower of wooden splinters fell to the ground as the jousters rode back to their starting positions, ready for another turn. Peace reigned, and until the prince was needed to bring light to the next long night, it continued to reign.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first drabble I wrote, so I thought it was important to set the scene. It is also the only one out of chronological order, taking place in 301 AC. The rest of the drabbles in this collection all take place in chapter order.


	2. The Queen of Love and Beauty

Rhaegar had placed the crown of winter roses upon his wife's lap, but Elia had placed the crown upon Ashara Dayne's head and gave him one of the shy smiles that she reserved for just one other.  
"Forgive me, my prince, but you seem to have made a mistake," she said mischievously.  
Ashara gave him a small devilish smile that was somehow even more mischievous. Elia's fragile health caused Rhaegar to sometimes forget she was Dornish, but that night, she and Ashara reminded him. She knew of his problem and hatched a Dornish solution. The dragon must have three heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually the third drabble I wrote. In written order, the chapter order goes 1, 5, 2, 7, 4, 8, 3, 6, and 9.


	3. A Dornish Solution

Elia glared at Ashara's nude form laying atop the royal bed. "Adultery is a grave sin."

Ashara struggled to stifle her amusement. "I'm sorry, my princess, but I have an explanation."

"Your _queen_." Elia tried sounding stern, but by then, she was close to laughter as well.

" _My_  queen," Ashara agreed, correcting herself. "You're mine, and I'm yours."

"What would the king say if he heard you claiming his wife?" Elia looked across Ashara. "Your Grace...?"

"She's right," Rhaegar replied quietly. "In court, you're my queen. Abed, you're her wife. Why shouldn't you do with each other what you wish?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place an unspecified amount of time after Chapter 2, after Rhaegar has become king. I would've preferred less paragraphs, but alas, it was really hard fitting all this dialogue into 100 words, so I fear the formatting suffered.


	4. The Maid and The Mother

The gods had rewarded Ser Bonifer well for his piety. Lord Bonifer of the Rainwood, now, by the generosity of his stepson, as a wedding gift. It was a meaningless title that Bonifer had no interest in. The gods' true gift was the woman who laid against his side. He had loved her as the Maiden in his youth, but she was a maiden no longer. As Bonifer caressed the swell of Rhaella's stomach, he saw the Mother, and prayed that she would protect this one from the Stranger. His queen deserved all the happiness in the world, and more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think a series removing the grimdarkness from ASoIaF is complete without a happy ending for Rhaella.


	5. The Painted Table

The gloomy halls of Dragonstone were as different from the sunny paradise of the Water Gardens as could be, but Rhaegar preferred them to the sun and pools as much as Elia preferred the Water Gardens. She found him where she often did when at Dragonstone, brooding over the Painted Table. Rhaenys was seated atop the Red Mountains, ordering her kitten to burn Planky Town with dragonfire, no doubt reenacting the story Elia told her of her namesake during their voyage to the island. The queen smiled faintly at the sight, and told Rhaenys that she had the wrong dragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is chapter five now, but it was the third drabble I wrote. That's why there's speech in this one, but it isn't dialogue. It still felt kind of odd to be writing fanfiction, having written nothing but original fiction up to this point, and that helped. As the others show, I got over it, thankfully.  
> For some reason, it always bothered me that Princess Rhaenys's cat was named after King Aegon I's dragon instead of Queen Rhaenys's.


	6. King Baelor's Dragon

"Mother, Mother, look what I found!" Nymeria exclaimed and presented Ashara with a very old looking coin. Ashara took the coin from her daughter's hand and examined it. On one side, it depicted the Targaryen dragon, and on the other, a bearded man with long hair and a crown of vines. "It's from the reign of King Baelor!"  
She smiled gently at Nymeria. "And what will you buy with it, Merry?" Nymeria snatched the coin from Ashara's grasp, held it protectively held it to her chest, and glared at her mother as if she had uttered the greatest of blasphemies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhaenys, Aegon, Arthur, and now Nymeria? It seems the dragon has four heads instead of three, and that this one has an interest in historical artifacts. When placing it in chronological order, I based my decision on the fact I felt her to be about eight years old in this chapter.


	7. A Bear Among Wolves

Bran and Arya, with wooden sword and shield, slowly approached their mother from left and right. Dacey hid her smirk behind her own shield. When Arya swung, Dacey spun around, blocked her with her shield, and knocked a surprised Bran to his feet with her own wooden sword. She charged forward, pushed her shield against Arya's, and shoved her down as well.  
"Again," she commanded. Both children scrambled to their feet. Bran was sullen, and Arya defiant, but Dacey knew every knock in the training yard would better prepare them for the battlefield, though she hoped they never saw one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now what's this? For some reason, Dacey Mormont is the mother of Bran and Arya, rather than Catelyn? Why would that be?  
> Because Rhaegar never stole Lyanna, Brendan never went south, and King Aerys II never killed him. He married Catelyn as intended, leaving Ned to marry the daughter of his father's bannerman Lady Maege. I chose Dacey because I felt that Arya would have her best ending if she had a mother who encouraged her tomboyishness, so I picked a warrior woman from House Mormont.


	8. The Mother's Maid

Princess Nymeria had always liked her aunt Dany. She was only a year older than Nymeria, but she already knew more about the Faith than most septas. It was their mothers who first put their shy and bookish daughters together the first time the queen mother brought her to court. Before long, Nymeria had become closer to her than she was with Rhaenys. Daenerys often clashed with Rhaeny's lady-in-waiting, Bella Baratheon, and it always fell upon Nymeria to break them up because Princess Rhaenys never did. She enjoyed listening to their arguments far too much to do any such thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After writing chapter 4, I realized that Rhaella canonically dies giving birth to Dany so I wrote this to explicitly deny that, though I left it vague as to why she survived. Perhaps the maesters at the Red Keep were better at medicine than those at Dragonstone. For my characterization of Daenerys Hasty, heir to the Rainwood, I decided to focus on Daenerys Targaryen's love of songs and stories of heroes and knights from the Seven Kingdoms, and her new father's extreme piousness.  
> As a bonus, Bella is a trueborn daughter of House Baratheon, rather than a prostitute. I meant it when I said "as many people as possible" get a fluffy slice-of-life ending.


	9. Cyvasse

In the ten days since arriving at the Water Gardens, thanks to Doran, Rhaegar and Nymeria had done nothing but play a silly Volantine board game. Elia couldn't comprehend what made it so interesting that Nymeria would have played it through every mealtime if she could. They played near the side of the pool in their own little world while Elia sat in the shade with her feet in the water. After Nymeria won yet another game, Elia joked that were they clashing armies of men rather than alabaster and onyx, Rhaegar would have lost his kingdom ten times over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, what nerds. Elia's probably long accepted Rhaegar being a bookish sourpuss by now, but she might still have hope for Merry.

**Author's Note:**

> If you've made it this far, thanks for reading. I know it's not much, but I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
